Rhode Island

Overview

The Rhode Island Retirement Board oversees the Rhode Island Employees’ Retirement System, which is made up of seven defined benefit plans and one defined contribution plan. These plans include the Employees' Retirement System, for state employees; the Teachers’ Survivors Benefits plan; the Municipal Employees' Retirement System; the State Police Retirement Benefits Trust; the Judicial Retirement Benefits Trust; the Judicial Retirement Fund Trust; the State Police Retirement Fund Trust; and the Rhode Island Defined Contribution Plan. Together these plans provide retirement benefits for most public employees in the state; some Rhode Island cities maintain their own retirement system. The ERS board includes 14 members.

RI ERS assets are managed by the State Investment Commission, which is housed in the office of the state treasurer.

Plan Design

All new hires into ERS since 7/1/12 participate in a hybrid, DB-DC plan. In addition, current active members with less than 20 years of service as of 6/30/12 were transferred from the DB plan to the hybrid DB-DC plan.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, 77 percent of employees of state and local government in Rhode Island participate in Social Security. Approximately one-half of public school teachers in the state do not participate in Social Security.

Access plan design detail

Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure

Rhode Island General Laws Title 36 establishes the Rhode Island Retirement System and prescribes the composition and duties of the board.

Details regarding the composition of these and other retirement boards is accessible via the Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics search tool located at the bottom of this page.

Fiduciary Duty/Prudence Standard

Rhode Island General Laws Chapter 35-10
The commission is authorized and empowered to execute the disposition and investment of the funds which are within its control in accordance with the prudent person standard as defined in this subsection. The commission shall adopt a statement of investment objectives and policies consistent with the prudent person standard. Management and professional expenses incurred by the commission in the furtherance of this section shall be paid from the funds in an amount required for these expenses. For purposes of this subsection, the prudent person standard shall be that standard of care employed solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of the funds and:
(1) For the exclusive purpose of:
(i) Providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries; and
(ii) Defraying reasonable expenses of administering the funds;
(2) With the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with these matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims; and
(3) By diversifying the investments of the fund so as to minimize the risk of large losses, unless under the circumstances it is clearly prudent not to do so.

Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits

No explicit constitutional protection exists for public pension benefits, but courts protect contractual pension rights based on impairment of contract principles. Nonnenmacher v. City of Warwick, 722 A.2d 1199 (R.I. 1999) (vested contractual rights might not be violated where the impairment caused by a change in benefits is "not substantial"); Rhode Island Council 94 v. Carcieri, 2011 WL 4198506, *1 (Trial Order) (R.I.Super. Sep 13, 2011) (statutorily-created pension system establishes a contractual relationship with the state; trial court denied defendant's' motion for summary judgment after plaintiffs challenged benefit and COLA reductions). (Rl CONST., Article 1, §12Source: Robert Klausner, Esq., State Constitutional Protections for Public Sector Retirement Benefits
 

See also the following search tools:

Retirement System Account Interest Policies Economic Actuarial Assumptions Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics
Information about interest rates applied to account balances of inactive plan participants Assumed rates of investment return and inflation Composition and characteristics of public retirement and investment oversight boards
Mortality Assumptions Plan Design Features Post-retirement Employment Policies
Public retirement system actuarial assumptions for mortality Numerous elements of retirement plan design Policies governing return-to-work for retirement system annuitants

More Data

Flag of Rhode Island(July 27, 1640, formally November 1, 1897)

Population (2024) 1,112,308

Rhode Island public pension statistics, per U.S. Census Bureau as of FY 2024

Assets

$13.9 billion

Active Members

46,594

Annuitants

38,502

Benefits Paid

$1.4 billion

Employee Contributions

$162.7 million

Employer Contributions

$925.9 million

Systems

One state retirement system accounts for 82 percent of assets and 87 percent of public retirement system plan participants. 31 local retirement systems


Become A Member

Becoming a member of NASRA offers a unique opportunity to join a community committed to the sound, efficient, and innovative stewardship of public retirement systems. Membership connects you with a network of professionals and experts, providing valuable insights into managing public retirement systems with a focus on sustainability and risk-averse strategies.

By joining NASRA, you gain the tools and resources to enhance the management of public retirement systems, ensuring their long-term success and reliability for generations to come.


 

What's New at NASRA: Public Pension Investment Return Assumption Brief Updated

NASRA’s latest update to standing issue briefs, Public Pension Plan Investment Return Assumptionunderscores the critical role the investment return assumption plays in the financial health of public pension plans. Of all actuarial assumptions, it has the greatest impact on plan funding levels and cost. This brief traces how a decade of low interest rates and inflation, beginning in 2009, prompted many plans to reduce their long-term expected returns in line with more modest capital market projections. However, since inflation began rising in early 2021, the trend toward lowering return assumptions has largely paused. While reducing a plan’s assumed return can increase both costs and unfunded liabilities, setting this assumption is a careful, thorough process. It draws on expert input from actuaries and investment professionals and is guided by actuarial standards of practice.